The Office of Biometric Identity Management manages biometric and biographic identity management systems that help federal, state and local officials determine if travelers can legally enter or remain in the United States. Work under the contract will decrease the time, cost and personnel required to support data sharing between the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada and Australia.

OBIM provides biometric information to the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration. Upgrades under the contract also will enable biometric information to be shared in real time with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Defense.

Accenture also will expand the use of secure web services for all stakeholders, making it easier and more cost effective to access existing OBIM data. The development of reusable “services” has allowed OBIM to dramatically decrease the time and cost for new users to access the system – from nine months to three weeks.

The program is designed to help protect America’s borders by identifying terrorists, wanted criminals, sex offenders, immigration violators and international criminals at airports and ports of entry around the world.

Benefits of OBIM’s system include:

Stops an estimated 50 wanted criminals from entering the country every day

Works at more than 1,250 sites including ports of entry, U.S. Department of State locations and other enforcement agencies

Biometric and biographic information is shared with the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.